The share of commercial real estate companies (retail spaces, business centers and office, logistics premises) expecting revenue growth in the coming year remains high (83%), although slightly down compared to last year (88%), while 68% plan to increase their expenses in 2026, according to Deloitte 2026 Commercial Real Estate Outlook. At the same time, 65% of participants (compared to 68% last year) expect the market fundamentals to improve across areas such as cost and availability of capital, rental levels, value of rents and vacancies.
Under these conditions, almost 75% of participants intend to increase their investment levels in real estate assets over the coming year, mainly to protect themselves against inflation (34%), to diversify their portfolio with other financial assets (26%) or for potential tax benefits (14%).
European companies expressed the highest optimism regarding the evolution of market fundamentals, with about 70% expecting improvements in leasing, lending and raising funding through the capital market. Asia-Pacific respondents are more cautious – 63% expect market conditions to improve in 2026, but nearly 20% foresee worsening in terms of cost and availability of capital. In contrast, companies in North America manifest a neutral approach – 25% expect stable conditions in terms of rent, vacancies, and cost of capital.
Overall, the sentiment index of companies in the sector, which measures their optimism regarding the evolution of revenue, expenses and market fundamentals , is high (65 points out of 100), well above the 2023 level (44 points) and very close to the last year’s high (68 points).
Regarding the macroeconomic trends that could have the greatest impact on the real estate companies’ financial performance in 2026, the participants to the study ranked first the capital availability (up from sixth place last year), followed by elevated interest rates, cost of capital, currency volatility, and changes in tax policy. Interestingly, cyber risk declined significantly among participants’ concerns, from second place last year to sixth place this year, while worries regarding employee retention soared from twelfth place last year to eight this year. At the same time, a new risk was identified this year – international trade policies – which ranked ninth globally but was the fifth-biggest concern for Asia-Pacific participants.
"Developments in the real estate market are closely linked to the economic conditions in the respective market, so the optimism of the participants to the study indicates that they are adapting on the go to the volatility of the business environment they have faced over the recent years and are increasingly relying on the speed of reaction, while also quickly identifying long-term development opportunities. In Romania, real estate companies are counting on a gradual decrease in inflation and, implicitly, in financing costs this year, but also on the continuation of public investment, especially in infrastructure, which can generate increased demand in the real estate market (industrial, logistics, retail, offices, etc.)," said Irina Dimitriu, Partner at Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal, and Real Estate Industry Leader at Deloitte Romania.
The ranking of the most attractive assets remains relatively stable this year – properties associated with the digital economy (data centers, mobile towers, etc.) returned to first place, from second place last year, while logistics and warehousing climbed to second place (from fourth), and the industrial and manufacturing sector fell to third place (from first). Offices, both in suburban and downtown areas, regained two positions each compared to last year, climbing to fifth and seventh place, respectively.
On the other hand, enthusiasm regarding artificial intelligence (AI) implementation across commercial real estate companies is cooling compared to last year. Nearly 20% of respondents believe their organizations are still in the early stage of their AI journey, while 27% are experiencing challenges with AI implementation, including technical issues, lack of expertise, or resistance to change. The Deloitte 2026 Commercial Real Estate Outlook study was conducted among more than 850 commercial real estate companies with assets of over $250 million each, across three regions: Europe (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK), North America (Canada, Mexico and the US) and Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan and Singapore).
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